In fact he is obliviously happier than any of us may ever be.
In that moment he is happy... we all have moments of pure joy just as he is having one. But Happy is not something the picture's text brings up. It points out the elated child has just won a worthless victory. So yes, the picture IS Demeaning to the child in the photograph, which is why other folks can take the one photoshopped and laugh at it... but not the one you posted.
Just as you say, its a matter of context, and the photo you posted was tasteless and denigrating the 1st time I saw it, and again the thousandth time when you posted it.
I am used to daily insults and mockery applied to my way of life, race, heritage and in many cases, the holicaust that obliterated many of my ancestors before the term holicaust existed. I let it slide off me and move on to the next thing I feel like doing.
You could learn from that. Learn to deal with how you are and the limitations that accomany it
Now who is making assumptions? I was too skinny all thru school until I joined the military, all the kids made fun of me, boo hoo... I got on with my life, made friends with Fat and skinny kids and learned to play guitar.
I don't care about Deer Hunting or Football in a state preoccupied with both, I've been an oddball and ridiculed all of my life, who cares? Not me... I'm busy doing things that interest me, and when the deer hunter across the street that calls me a "tree hugging pansy" gets a virus on his computer, he develops a little humility. He was also shocked that I could reassemble his rifle and load it faster than he could. Another "assumer" that because I dislike firearms I am unqualified to maintain and apply them.
Lighten up you say? I might be plenty light when something is actually funny, but I do not participate in making fun of Race, Sexual orientation, physical or mental handicaps. Well... I give my paraplegic bass playing buddy hell about his condition, but it was self inflicted and he needs tough love sometimes to motivate.
If I was going to make fun of you it would be your haircut... you had a choice. Not because yer an Injun, and not because I'm 1/4 Cherokee. My full blood Cherokee cousins piss on me because I'm a mutt, so I have had enough of that in my life.
Monkeys are damned funny, as are penguins...
Sam Kinison would have screamed your earholes out for even MENTIONING that it was in questionable taste, ya whiners! And then he would have given a lot of money to their cause, without a word.
Sure, he was a self admitted whore who appealed to lower emotions for commercial success. The second action really shows how he feels about it. He also had demons that drove him into a lifeless situation... so maybe he's not a suitable role model for the younger audience. Nor do I think saying WWSKD (What Would Sam Kinison Do?) is actually like bringing FACTS to the table. Not sure how it would sway an argument other than raise its overall volume.
Politically correct has gone too far, as has Rush Limbaugh and his ilk's borderline hate speech. Want to make fun of everyone, lets just remove all barriers and let the folks protest soldier's funerals screaming God Hates Fags so he kills our soldiers!
What we need is common decency, even on the internet. A happy medium between freedom for the tasteless and being thoughtful and not hating, bashing or denigrating someone else for "humor's sake".